MLB Game Picks - Friday: June 12, 2015

I picked terribly yesterday. Picture the old knight in the Indiana Jones movie: "He chose...poorly."  Yes, I did. Looking back, I picked way too many visiting teams to win. No matter how bad a team is, home is always an advantage. According to Baseball-reference.com, home teams win 53.4 percent of the time. That is a pretty significant difference. So if I pick six out of nine visiting teams to win, then I am setting myself up for disaster. And disaster it was.

Let's see if I learned anything. Friday's picks:

• The Cubs over the Reds: Heh. Now I am all messed up because I don't want to pick Johnny Cueto because he is not at home. Jason Hammel is pitching very well for the Cubs though and that's my pick.
• The Yankees over the Orioles: I am now worried about the Yankees' bullpen with their closer on the DL. So although I like Michael Pineda much more than Ubaldo Jimenez, the pick has me big time worried.
• The Pirates over the Phillies: It never ceases to amaze me that Kevin Correia somehow always manages to find a job in baseball. But he's back. I will go with Jeff Locke though. Which is my point.
• The Tigers over the Indians: Two very good pitchers square up here in David Price and Danny Salazar. I give the edge to Price because he will go deeper into the game.
• The Mets over the Braves: If Bartolo Colon was pitching on the road, I would take the Braves here because Alex Wood is very good at preventing runs. But at home, Colon can seem to have some really good moments.
• The Rays over the White Sox: This pick is not so much a support of Matt Andriese, though he did pitch well against the Yankees. Rather, it is my long distrust of John Danks as a Major League pitcher.
• The Marlins over the Rockies: Uh...one of these pitchers has to win. Kyle Kendrick is not somebody I ever like to pick. But, Jose Urena hasn't exactly been lighting it up for the Marlins either. Ick. Christian Yelich appears to be over his slump. That helps.
• The Blue Jays over the Red Sox: The Red Sox starting pitching continues to be a problem and I don't see Joe Kelly being able to stop the steamrolling Blue Jays. The key is Drew Hutchison having a good night though.
• The Rangers over the Twins: Is it just me or doesn't it seem that Wandy Rodriguez pitches every other day for the Rangers? I'm not that big on picking him. But Tommy Milone doesn't seem any more appetizing.
• The Mariners over the Astros: You always have to pick Felix Hernandez. The guy is having a phenomenal season. That seems like a much smarter play than Brett Oberholtzer.
• The Nationals over the Brewers: The Nats offense is still a bit of a sputter outfit. Getting Denard Span back helps. Jordan Zimmermann is hard to count on lately. Mike Fiers can't seem to find last year's magic.
• The Cardinals over the Royals: Jaime Garcia traditionally pitches well at home. Yordano Ventura has a history of hitting Cardinal players so that bad blood will need to be watched. This rivalry has become must-see baseball.
• The Angels over the Athletics: One of the few picks from yesterday that worked out. I'm not a big fan of Hector Santiago. But he is pitching better this year than Jesse Chavez.
• The Dodgers over the Padres: Clayton Kershaw is hitting his stride and I don't think tonight will be different. Odrisamer Despaigne has not been very good.

And the Pick of the Day:

• The Giants over the Diamondbacks: Madison Bumgarner against Chase Anderson at Bumgarner's home park? Yes. Give me some of that please.

Yesterday: 3-6, June: 73-71, Season: 451-424, Picks of the Day: 35-30

MLB Game Picks - Sunday: May 31, 2015

I hope this last day of May is better than the penultimate day. Because yesterday was awful. After five positive days in a row, I could hardly get anything correct on Saturday. Chi Chi? Who knew?  Well, I did know. He did walk five guys. It's just that the Red Sox are flatter than a pancake. Erasmo Ramirez pitching like Pedro Martinez? Seriously?

Let's finish May with a flourish shall we?

Sunday's picks:

• The Mets over the Marlins: Two former Yankee pitchers go at it today in Bartolo Colon and David Phelps. After Shane Greene got pummeled last night, picking any ex-Yankee seems to be unsavory. Colon at least has a chance to pitch very well. Phelps? Doubt it.
• The Nationals over the Reds: Hopefully, Bryce Harper's back will allow him to play after he was drilled by Cingrani (I still think it was on purpose). If he plays, the Nats have a much better lineup and now that Tanner Roarke can start again, he's a winner. Michael Lorenzen has pitched well for the Reds though.
• The Rockies over the Phillies: One of the few picks I got right yesterday, I'm going to stick with it. I still like Jordan Lyles despite his slow start this season. I like him better than Jerome Williams.
• The Orioles over the Rays: This is really a tough series to call. Both teams are having issues and both seem to be playing less than they're capable. For example, Chris Tillman has been solid for the last couple of years and looks awful this season. Will that turn around? Is Jake Odorizzi good or not? That answer changes from start to start.
• The Brewers over the Diamondbacks: Interesting. Tyler Wagner is making the jump from Double-A to make his MLB debut tonight for the Brewers. He has had a great minor league career and was great during the AFL. So he's an interesting pick tonight. Chase Anderson goes for the D-backs.
• The Astros over the White Sox: This one features two starting pitchers I have no confidence in at all with John Danks and Roberto Hernandez. The swing the Astros way is because they have a better chance to score more with their offense than the White Sox do with theirs.
• The Twins over the Blue Jays: I never thought I would be picking the Twins and the Astros this much this season. But look how they are playing! Ricky Nolasco has found new life somewhere after last year's fiasco. Drew Hutchison is inconsistent.
• The Cardinals over the Dodgers: This same pick blew up on me yesterday with Michael Wacha on the mound, no less. Carlos Martinez has the ability to shut down the Dodgers and I think the Cards score on Brett Anderson.
• The Royals over the Cubs: This is the same match up that got rained out yesterday. Yordano Ventura is my pick over Tsuyoshi Wada. I picked this differently yesterday, just so you know...
• The Rangers over the Red Sox: I'm not sure about picking Wandy Rodriguez against the Red Sox. But I also know that Joe Kelly has been awful and the Rangers' offense is rocking. The Red Sox do not hit lefties well and Rusney Castillo has yet to contribute anything.
• The Yankees over the Athletics: The Yankees finally won a road game yesterday. Imagine that! Adam Warren has been pitching well. Jesse Chavez has not been pitching well. The A's defense is brutal.
• The Indians over the Mariners: Danny Salazar has been terrific and other than Nelson Cruz, none of the other Mariners are hitting much. I like that combination. J.A. Happ goes for the Mariners.
• The Angels over the Tigers: I think David Price gets beat by a couple of homers today. That's just what my gut is telling me. But that assumes that Matt Shoemaker can hold down the Tigers.
• The Pirates over the Padres: Why is this a night game when it is not the ESPN Sunday night game? Isn't that weird? Either way, this pick depends on whether or not Odrisamer Despaigne's last two good starts were flukes or not. Jeff Locke goes for the Pirates.

And the Pick of the Day:

• The Giants over the Braves: I got this one wrong yesterday too. The Giants finally lost a game!? I cannot pick against Madison Bumgarner. The only way he loses is if Julio Teheran comes out firing on all cylinders, which is certainly possible.

Yesterday: 5-9, May: 203-181, Season: 369-346, Picks of the Day: 29-24

MLB Game Picks - Tuesday: May 5, 2015

Happy Cinco De Mayo. I started early by going 5-5 yesterday. And, the Pick of the Day was wrong. Ugh. I guess I went with the wrong ace.

I'm in a time bind this morning, so with apologies, I just give you my picks and the pitching lines:

• The Pirates over the Reds: Michael Lorenzen vs. Jeff Locke
• The Nationals over the Marlins: Stephen Strasburg vs. Mat Latos.
• The Yankees over the Blue Jays: Michael Pineda vs. Marco Estrada
• The Orioles over the Mets: Bud Norris vs. Bartolo Colon.
• The Braves over the Phillies: Chad Billingsley vs. Shelby Miller
• The Red Sox over the Rays: Drew Smyly vs. Rick Porcello
• The Indians over the Royals: Danny Salazar vs. Jason Vargas
• The Tigers over the White Sox: Shane Greene vs. Jeff Samardzija
• The Dodgers over the Brewers: Zack Greinke vs. Matt Garza
• The Twins over the Athletics: Trevor May vs. Jesse Chavez
• The Astros over the Rangers: Scott Feldman vs. Wandy Rodriguez
• The Cardinals over the Cubs: Tyler Lyons vs. Kyle Hendricks
• The Rockies over the Diamondbacks: Tyler Matzek vs. Josh Collmenter
• The Padres over the Giants: Andrew Cashner vs. Ryan Vogelsong

And the Pick of the Day:

• The Angels over the Mariners: Garrett Richards vs. James Paxton

Yesterday: 5-5, May: 32-23, Season: 196-188, Picks of the Day: 15-14

MLB Game Picks - Saturday: September 13, 2014

The picks had their second straight good night. They are 25-5 in the last two days. But as good as that sounds, the Game of the Day feature has been wrong three days in a row. Yesterday, I had no idea whatsoever that Nathan Karns was capable of shutting down the Blue Jays on two hits. Seriously!?

Other incorrect picks from yesterday included the first game loss of the Yankees. They had the game at 1-0 and brought in Adam Warren in the bottom of the 11th. Terrible decision. Boom and goodnight. And by the way, the Yankees are officially dead. I did not expect the Red Sox to beat the Royals. Wow, those Royals fans must be in full panic mode now. Gosh, I was hoping for a team over than the Tigers in that division. Lastly, the Mets beat the Nationals again.

So, are two great days of picking worth not having the Game of the Day feature correct? No. Hey, that's the way I roll. I want it all.

Saturday's picks:

• The Braves over the Rangers: There should be a moratorium on weird baseball names. It's getting out of hand. The latest addition is the Rangers' starter today, Lisalverto Bonilla. I mean, come on already. Can't these scouts in South and Central American only scout guys with easy names? Julio Teheran sounds tame by example.
• The Orioles over the Yankees: I have officially given up on the Yankees and their offense. Watching their offense is like watching the desert sky waiting for a rain cloud. Don't be surprised if Kevin Long is the designated scapegoat after the season is over. Miguel Gonzalez over Shane Greene.
• The Rays over the Blue Jays: I have to think about my bias against R.A. Dickey after the season is over. I think I might have picked him once or twice this year. But I always seem to find a reason. Today's is that the Rays' offense is an opportunistic one to make up for their lack of talent. Dickey is good for opportunists. Jeremy Hellickson goes for the Rays. The Blue Jays are just about dead too.
• The Twins over the White Sox: These two teams play two today after a rain out yesterday. I still like Phil Hughes over the hard luck of Jose Quintana in the first game.
• The White Sox over the Twins: The second game has a troubling pitching match-up which makes it hard to pick either team. But I guess I'll take Scott Carroll who has thrown a decent game once in a while over Logan Darnell who has seemed out of his element thus far.
• The Pirates over the Cubs: I have a little harder time picking against the Cubs in this game. Felix Doubront has been pitching very well since heading to Wrigleyville. But I will stick with Jeff Locke and the Pirates.
• The Marlins over the Phillies: I have picking against Kyle Kendrick all season so why stop now? I have also been picking against Brad Hand and he was good his last time out. I just wonder where the Marlins will get any offense to win the game.
• The Tigers over the Indians: The #$%## Tigers are going to win this division again. How freaking boring is that? I can't count on Danny Salazar and Kyle Lobstein has made me look foolish for four starts in a row now.
• The Royals over the Red Sox: If the Royals cannot beat Rubby De La Rosa, I don't know what else to say. Of course, I would feel a whole lot more confident if Jeremy Guthrie wasn't the Royals' starter today.
• The Brewers over the Reds: Once again, I am going with Yovani Gallardo at home even though he is not as much of a lock there as in the past. David Holmberg was pretty good in his last start even if I have no idea who he is.
• The Nationals over the Mets: Maybe Jayson Werth can get on the field today despite his "dead legs." Whoever heard of such a thing? I like Zack Wheeler a lot. But I like Doug Fister more.
• The Padres over the Diamondbacks: Chase Anderson has had a decent season. But he does not get a whole lot of decisions in his starts. Tyson Ross gets lots of decisions but has only won half of them. When Ross is on, he is awfully good.
• The Angels over the Astros: I have not given Jered Weaver his due. No pitcher does more with less stuff. And he is 16-8. You can't argue with that. Scott Feldman will be today's victim.
• The Dodgers over the Giants: At 9-10, Tim Hudson is in serious danger of breaking his streak of winning seasons. He has never had a losing season in his long and brilliant career. Zack Greinke might be the one to seal that fate.
• The Mariners over the Athletics: For the first time in his career, Felix Hernandez is going to pitch a meaningful game that could vault them into the post season. I think he will bask in the moment. Sonny Gray will not get any support.

And the Game of the Day

• The Cardinals over the Rockies: Franklin Morales will give the Cards some trouble simply because they don't hit lefties well. That said, Shelby Miller has been on fire in his last three starts.

Yesterday: 11-4, Sept.: 98-65, Games of the Day: 92-63 (-3), Season: 1228-999

MLB Game Picks - Thursday: July 31, 2014

This is it. July has come to a close and another month of the season is in the books. There are two more to go and some of it will be determined by last minute deals that happen today. As always, some fan bases will be happy and some will be disappointed.

Speaking of disappointing, the picking day ended under .500 yesterday. The Game of the Day worked out okay, but little else did. The Kluber / Hernandez match-up could have gone either way, so that's okay. But sometimes teams lose to teams they shouldn't lose to and it's the old saw about on any given day, any one team can beat another. There were a lot of given days yesterday.

Thursday's picks:

• The Tigers over the White Sox: I hesitate to pick the White Sox because starter, John Danks, might be traded before the game starts. While that leaves The Emoticon, Drew Smyly as the alternative, I'll still pick the Tigers.
• The Cubs over the Rockies: The Rockies are starting Pedro Hernandez, a 25-year-old lefty from Venezuela who has logged 60+ innings in the Majors and has given up thirteen homers and only struck out 4.6 batters per nine. Yeah. I'll go with Jake Arrieta gentille Arrieta.
• The Padres over the Cardinals: I don't know which fan base is more restless these days, the Cardinals' or the Yankees'. It's probably a tie. There has been a lot of talk about Shelby Miller and his disappointing season. But despite a bump in his last start, the reason for this pick is Odrisamer Despaigne.
• The Orioles over the Angels: It's silly to pick against the Orioles these days. They just keep on winning and winning and winning. Remember all that Buster Olney talk about their tough schedule after the All Star Break? Forget that. Bud Norris over Tyler Skaggs.
• The Nationals over the Phillies: The Phillies are sort of like the big car manufacturers of the 1980s. They just keep on doing what they are doing despite the world passing them by. If Cliff Lee makes his start tonight for them, it's a complete fail for the Phillies and their front office. Gio Gonzalez for the win.
• The Indians over the Mariners: Zach McAllister's peripherals are better than his results. It looks like a command issue more than anything. If he throws strikes, he can win. Chris Young has to be perfect not to get clobbered. That is a tightrope.
• The Reds over the Marlins: I saw that Tom Koehler was pitching for the Marlins and said, "Oh, I should pick them." But then I saw that Johnny Cueto was pitching for the Reds and say, "Maybe not."
• The Royals over the Twins: How is Kevin Correia still in the rotation for the Twins? Sorry for the disrespect, but the guy has become a batting practice pitcher. Yordano Ventura should be better. If he isn't, I hate you Royals.
• The Blue Jays over the Astros: The Blue Jays are fresh off of pounding the Red Sox into submission after doing the same to the Yankees. The Astros should be next. Drew Hutchison needs to be better, but if he is, he should best Jarred Cosart.
• The Pirates over the Diamondbacks: Both Josh Collmenter and Jeff Locke gave up more than ten hits in their last starts. Ugh. Locke is much better at home than on the road. But the Pirates have the better team if the pitchers are considered equal.

And the Game of the Day:

• The Dodgers over the Braves: Any time you have Clayton Kershaw on the mound and he as at home when doing so, you have to pick him. Julio Teheran is a talented pitcher who has been all over the place for some reason lately.

Yesterday: 7-8, July: 206-194, Games of the Day: 63-49, Season: 889-739